function ltrim(str, chars) {
    chars = chars || "\\s";
    return str.replace(new RegExp("^[" + chars + "]+", "g"), "");
}

function rtrim(str, chars) {
    chars = chars || "\\s";
    return str.replace(new RegExp("[" + chars + "]+$", "g"), "");
}

function trim(str, chars) {
    return ltrim(rtrim(str, chars), chars);
}

function valid_email(str) {
    var emailPattern = /^[a-zA-Z0-9._-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,4}$/;
    return emailPattern.test(str);
}